Desiigner Talks About His New Project ‘L.O.D.’ & Working With BTS On ‘For The Record’

Brooklyn rapper Desiigner skyrocketed to prominence in 2016 after his first commercial single “Panda” caught the ear of Kanye West. After signing to G.O.O.D. Music, Desiigner appeared on two tracks from Kanye’s album The Life of Pablo including “Pt. 2,” which samples “Panda.” Thanks to the co-sign, the single reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 a few months later and even led to a viral lyrics video with Genius which inspired the creation of the Verified series. Since then, Desiigner has put out a mixtape titled New English, appeared on the G.O.O.D. Music posse cut “Champions,” and dropped a series of singles including “Tiimmy Turner” and “Up.”

Prior to the release of his new project L.O.D., Desiigner sat down with Rob Markman for the latest episode of Genius' For The Record. During the interview, the Grammy-nominated rapper spoke about recording the project, his meteoric rise, branching outside of hip-hop, and future collaborations.

Just like Kanye did for 808s & Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Desiigner and his team went to Hawaii to find the right vibe for L.O.D. “We went up there [to the] same room as Kanye recorded his album,” he recalled. “It was the energy, I had to go out there.” One of the tracks Desiigner laid down in Hawaii is the contemplative “Destiination,” where he describes his shaky relationship at the time. “I didn’t know if we was connected, I ain’t know we had that destination no more for each other,” he explained. “I was like, ‘Yo man, I don’t know how to get to you, and she don’t know how to get to me’ and then, it just came out, you feel me, just speaking that word.”

Desiigner also shared how “Panda” changed his life. “I didn’t even know the Billboard [charts]. I didn’t know what none of that meant,” he revealed. “I remember just hearing, ‘Yo, yesterday your song hit number one.’ Aight, I’m like how big is it, I’m asking how big is it, but it was definitely like it was so fast… Even years went past, you know, me not even seeing my moms and stuff, so it’s like I wasn’t ready for this leaving home too quick.”

In November, Desiigner linked up with the Korean boy band BTS for a remix of their song “MIC Drop” produced by his tour mate Steve Aoki. According to Desiigner, the collaboration ultimately came together thanks to his manager, Zana Ray. “My label wasn’t fucking with it, because they was like, ‘Yo, Desiigner might not fuck with this shit,’” he said. “But Zana Ray was like, ‘Yo, I’m telling you he’s going to do some crazy shit, he’s going to go crazy on it. So they just sent it to me [and] I’m like, 'Oh, this is just crazy.’”

Toward the end of the interview, Desiigner teased a song with Kid Cudi. “I might got something good coming with my boy Kid Cudi,” he said. “Me and him got a crazy record that’s definitely for that like, that pursuit that give you that energy.”